The present invention relates generally to dispensing apparatus and, more particularly, is concerned with a fluid dispenser cap having a fluid collecting dish integrally formed with a lockable pump actuator.
An automatic fluid dispenser cap having a top fluid collecting dish and being manually depressible to actuate a reciprocal pump for delivering fluid axially upward into the collecting dish has been commercially produced and sold by Menda Scientific Products, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif. for many years. U.S. Pat. No. 2,593,591 to Menkin et al and assigned to Menda Scientific Products, Inc., also the assignee of the present invention, discloses several embodiments representative of such fluid dispenser cap.
The Menda fluid dispenser cap has been used on containers holding a wide variety of different fluids, for example, alcohol, solvents and cosmetic liquids. It is designed for one-handed operation by eliminating the need to grasp the container and remove a cap or stopper before dispensing the fluid. By simply depressing the cap only as much fluid as is needed can be dispensed into the collecting dish or directly onto the applicator such as a cotton ball, cloth or brush. This eliminates loss to evaporation and spills.
The commercial acceptability of the above-described mode of operation makes adaptation of the Menda fluid dispenser cap to other uses highly desirable. One such use is in conjunction with retail consumer products wherein the container, fluid product and dispenser are typically assembled together and then shipped to retail stores. Thus, one important design consideration in adapting the Menda fluid dispenser cap for such use is to provide a way to prevent leakage of the product during shipment.
Fluid dispensers are known in the prior patent art which incorporate means for sealing and/or locking its pump mechanism to prevent leakage and evaporation of product during shipping, storage and periods of non-use. Some representative examples are the dispensers disclosed in U.S. Patents to Lipman (U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,355), Thompson (U.S. Pat. No. 3,263,871) and Anderson et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,746) and a pump dispenser commercially produced by Calmar Industries. However, none of these prior art dispensers appear to have a construction readily compatible with the Menda-type fluid dispenser cap. Thus, a need exists for a way to adapt the Menda-type fluid dispenser cap for use with containers holding retail or consumer products to this prior art. Menda has chosen to adapt the Anderson/Calmar design to this purpose.